MOTORMAN REVISITS THE ASTON MARTIN DB7
DESPITE ITS HANDSOME LOOKS, THE DB7 WAS NOT A GAME CHANGER. BUT HAS THE GRAND TOURER BECOME SUCH A BARGAIN THAT IT IS WORTH A SECOND LOOK? DONN ANDERSON MANAGED AN EARLY DRIVE IN 1994 AND NOW LOOKS BACK ON THE CAR’S MODEL LIFE
When the Aston Martin DB7 launched 25 years ago, it had all the hallmarks of a model to transform the fortunes of the specialist, limitedproduction carmaker. Yet, when production ended nine years later, in December 2003, enthusiasm was waning, even though the numbers built were comfortably within original expectations.
In 1994, we were wowed by the DB7’S sensuous shape, supercharged performance, and nimble, responsive road manners. We could not predict whether time would be kind to a car that many thought would be the most significant production road-going Aston ever produced. Like it or not, the enduring long-term value of any costly, high-profile car is usually the measure of its worth.
Hindsight is great, if meaningless, and, as the DB7 stormed out of the blocks, it had a serious rival in the mid-engined Ferrari F355 GTB. When new, they were both
available for similar coin in New Zealand: a costly $325K for the Aston and $330K for the Italian machine. Fast forward two-anda-half decades and the Ferrari’s value is solid and rising, while the DB7 languishes with major depreciation. In 2012, crime barrister Barry Hart’s 2002 DB7 V12 sold for $52K at a Turners auction in Auckland.
To Britain, for an early drive
However, we were scarcely considering retained values as the DB7 was wheeled out for the first time. Clutching a letter of introduction from the late Trevor Hudson, who headed up the New Zealand Aston Martin operation in those days, I was in Britain on a mission to drive the new DB7 just as it went into manufacture. Two requests were denied simply because the car had not been officially released and a suitable example could not be found. Third time lucky, however, as Aston’s public affairs manager, Harry Carlton, seemed impressed by my persistence and found a dark blue left-hand-drive prototype DB7 with a long-throw Getrag five-speed manual gearbox for me to sample. It may have helped that Harry knew me from my days in the ’70s as a motoring writer in the UK when he was a press relations man at Ford.
Aston Martin had been sold to Ford in 1988, and the cash-rich giant multinational then acquired Jaguar in 1990 and Land Rover in 2000. This would be a short-and-not-always-happy tenure, with Ford selling Aston to a consortium led by Prodrive founder David Richards in 2007 and then Jaguar Land Rover to Tata the following year. Richards left in 2013, and shareholders now include Daimler AG.
What has this to do with the DB7? A look around the car reveals Ford origins that do not always sit comfortably with a luxurious, high-performance motor vehicle. Door-mirror switches from a Ford Scorpio and tail lights and door handles from a Mazda 323 were some of the components picked from the parts bin. Built on an XJS platform and originally destined to be a successor to that two-door Jaguar model, the project then became an Aston Martin with engineering by TWR. The platform later formed the underpinnings for the Jaguar XK. Little surprise then that, in many respects, the DB7 feels more like a Jaguar than a more expensive Aston.
Sharing an engine with Jaguar
For the first five years of the DB7’S lifespan, the sole engine was Jaguar’s 3.2-litre AJ6 in-line six-cylinder. This was the same all-alloy, fuel-injected, twin-overhead-cam, 24-valve power plant fitted to the XJR, but with new cams, valves, and pistons, and 40 per cent more boost from the Eaton M90 supercharger. The 250kw of power was a shade more than Aston’s old 5.3-litre V8, while maximum torque at 49Nm was realized at 3000rpm.
A single Eaton blower fitted with bypass valve and liquid intercooler mirrored the supercharged four-litre Jaguar XJR saloon, and, given the profile for our market, the New Zealand distributors chose to import only the four-speed automatic DB7. Some manuals have found their way here, including the odd used import from Japan and the UK. A convertible DB7 Volante joined the Aston Martin line-up in 1996 at a time when more than 200 improvements and new components were also added to the higher volume coupé.
The Vantage name has been used by Aston Martin since 1950 to identify the highest performance model in a particular range. When the V12 DB7 Vantage arrived in 1999, Aston said that the 3.2 six would continue to be offered, but, as buyer preference swung towards the 12-cylinder car
— the first Aston Martin ever to be powered by a 12-cylinder power plant — the smaller engine was soon phased out.
With almost 33 per cent more power than the six, the all-alloy 60-degree V12 was derived from Ford’s Duratec V6 with engineering by Cosworth. The V12 developed 313kw and was updated in 2002 with the V12 GT and GTA automatic to 324kw. Only 302 examples were made, of which 190 were GT manuals. The final year of DB7 production was marked by 99 limitededition Vantage Zagatos that quickly sold out. When the flag finally fell, a total of around 7000 DB7S had been built, cementing the model’s reputation as the most successful Aston Martin of all time.
The V12s were given bigger brakes and suspension changes with revised front wishbones and a double-wishbone arrangement at the rear. They are distinguished by four headlights and a revised front bumper, while the later GTS and GTAS sport a mesh front grille, bonnet vents, a boot spoiler, and an aluminium gear lever. Retained values of sixes and 12s vary little, with prices heavily dependent on vehicle condition, service history, and mileage. As one owner said, DB7S are expensive to own if they are sitting around, and expensive to own if they are regularly used!
This is in spite of factory expectations that the typical DB7 owner would probably drive 30,000km a year, while the scarcer Virage V12 or Vantage might average only 5500km annually. So, yes, the DB7 was perceived to be an everyday driver, unlike the brand’s more specialist models.
Quality issues
Quality issues dogged the 4646mm long car, with electrical gremlins, timingchain-tensioner failures, costly parts, and expensive servicing. The air conditioners can be a nightmare and require the dashboard to be removed for rectification of problems, while rust is an issue. Even though the body is part galvanized, newer DB7S tend to be more prone to rusting than earlier examples. The body has a steel underframe and body panels, and composite bonnet, front wings, sills, boot lid, and front and rear bumpers. Changing spark plugs on the 12-cylinder involves removal of the induction system from both banks of the V12 at a cost of around $4500 if you don’t do it yourself. Traditional home at Newport Pagnell DB7S were put together at a modern Bloxham facility near Banbury in Oxfordshire, where the XJ220 Jaguars were made, but I collected the pre-production Aston from the company’s traditional home at Newport Pagnell, about an hour’s drive away. This had been the Aston Martin headquarters for more than 40 years and was an opportunity to soak up some of the marque’s colourful history. The Newport Pagnell factory made the last of 13,000 Astons in July 2007, closing the doors after 55 years.
On my visit in 1994, the old buildings, including management and the restoration centre, were located on both sides of the road, and I watched mechanics wheeling costly Aston Martin vee-cylinder engines across the road on trolleys from the manufacturing plant to assembly, often waiting for passing traffic.
Newport Pagnell was building the lowvolume V-cars — Virage, Volante, and Vantage — often using tools dating back to the early parts of last century. Aston Martin claimed to make a much greater proportion of the components for each V-car than any other UK motor manufacturer. However, the DB7 was seen in a new light, providing Aston with
the volume needed to become more financially viable. In spite of the heavy investment in the new model, 1995 was touted as the first time in the 80-year history of the brand that it would make a profit.
The renaissance of Aston Martin
As Harry Carlton handed me the keys, he said, “We’re doing the things that have to be done to make Aston a living marque instead of a dead one.” John Oldfield, previously responsible for Ford product development in Europe and then chairman of Aston Martin at the unveiling of the DB7, was shooting for Ferrari and intent on increasing production tenfold into the late ’90s. However, a four-year objective to increase total Aston Martin output to 1100 cars annually would prove overly optimistic.
Nevertheless, the DB7 was seen as marking the renaissance of Aston, with the beautiful shape signalling a luxury, high-performance classic car. Front, rear, profile, three-quarters: there is nary an angle that does not look right. Of course, the design has Jaguar influences, apart from the distinctive grille that is reminiscent of earlier DB3, DB4, DB5, and DB6 models.
Eighteen-inch alloy wheels on the sixes are
The DB7 was seen in a new light, providing Aston with the volume needed to become more financially viable
finished with a lockable flush plastic centre cover, while later V12 models came with a more conventional alloy wheel design. Rims are eight inches wide, and the factory-fit tyres were Bridgestone Expedia 245/40s. The bonnet is front-hinged and the alarm/ immobilizer interacts with the remote-action central locking. Ventilated front disc brakes have alloy four-pot calipers and the solid rear discs incorporate sliding aluminium calipers and a drum handbrake. Anti-lock braking is standard but early models lacked airbags.
Paintwork by Rolls-royce
Buyers were impressed by the traditional front engine–rear drive layout, the supercharged engine, and the fine paintwork executed by Rolls-royce at Crewe; the fact that a set of golf clubs would fit into the boot made it a practical supercar. The sumptuous interior is all Aston, right down to the Connolly leather trim and polished burrwalnut detailing on the dashboard, console, and doors.
All-round visibility is good, and the cabin shrinks around the driver and front-seat passenger, with a narrow footwell. The cabin feels cosy, almost tight, and the bucket seats wrap around occupants. The bottom parts of the main instruments are obscured by the steering-wheel rim but the driving position is reasonable. Rear seating is more for appearance than practicality, with almost non-existent legroom. I soon warmed to the competition-style fly-off handbrake but was less impressed by the wind noise created as a result of the Bmw-style electric windows that slide up and down a notch when opening or closing the window glass.
There’s a muted roar and whine under